Getting closer to London’s transport heritage

Getting closer to London’s transport heritage can be achieved in many ways. At Arriva London, we pride ourselves on supporting that heritage as corporate members of the London Transport Museum, together with maintaining our own moving history of London with our heritage fleet of Routemaster buses.

If you would prefer to be more hands on, and get even closer, then becoming a member of the London Transport Museum Friends could provide that opportunity.

London Transport Museum Friends is a separate charity, working closely with the London Transport Museum to support its objectives and collections. The members support the museum by volunteering their time, enthusiasm and expertise in a variety of ways, ranging from conducting guided tours, cataloguing items in the Museum’s collection, working on projects, to fund raising and much more.

By joining the Friends, you can get closer and experience everything the museum has to offer, with behind the scenes visits at the museum, specialist talks and working with like-minded people. You can also get discounts on products and events, including free entry to the Museum.

By volunteering, you can also bring transport heritage to life for thousands of other people, and by supporting museum projects with donations or hands-on expertise, you can see long-forgotten heritage restored for future generations.

Being a member gives you the opportunity to apply to attend many of the special events which are always so very popular. For example, on the 27th March there is a talk by Simon Bennett, Crossrail’s head of Learning Legacy, giving an update on recent progress, and the coming final steps in delivering the Elizabeth Line, the biggest increase in rail capacity for London for many decades.

Projects are also a major part of the Museum’s restoration process, and to coincide with the anniversary of the First World War, the Friends recently supported the restoration of a B-type bus, which was used in remembrance events both here and in France. Arriva London were delighted to welcome it to our Tottenham garage and to house it overnight on one of its journeys south.

Tram and cabbies’ shelters are also important reminders of building transport heritage, which need renovation and maintaining. One of the largest projects in recent years has been the restoration of Metropolitan railway carriage 353, in time for the Underground 150 celebrations.

If you feel that you would really like to help in the preservation of our Transport Heritage, then become a Friend of London Transport Museum today, www.ltmuseumfriends.co.uk, and start making a difference.

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